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The Oracle
The Oracle The Oracle is the most important religious site in all of The Navel. It is located on an island in the centre of The Inner Sea. According to folk tales, it was built by the gods themselves, long ago, when they still lived among men. It is an impressive structure that sits atop a large stone formation, on which a stairway of one thousand steps has been built to give access to the temple. Tall braziers stand on each side of the stairs every twenty steps, burning with a red glow at night. The Oracle sees visitors all year round. Many seek its wisdom for an answer or a guidance with which to direct their lives. In the past, even kings were known for consulting The Oracle before taking an important decision. Some even travelled personally to the site in order to ask their questions, either due to an uncommon sense of piety or simply due to a zealous care with the matter of their inquiry. This custom has, however, been completely abandoned by the last few monarchs or at least kept in secrecy if it is still being practiced. Although The Oracle is directly linked with the main religion of the realm, it is known for accepting visitors and offerings from any kind of faith. Perhaps for this reason it has been able to maintain itself as the most important religious site of The Navel. Some question this policy, though, under the claim that The Oracle is a corrupt institution that cares about nothing other than the profit it makes from those that seek its knowledge. Those that have faith in it, however, point out that the gods are more prone to give a good answer to he who is willing to give something in return. Other than personal inquiries, The Oracle also receives visitors during festivals and religious celebrations. In special, pilgrims from all over the continent come to the place every year for The Harvest Festival, to extend their gratitude to the gods for a good harvest. During festivals, there are athletic competitions and musical contests, as well as much drinking and eating to be had. In addition to these frequent events, every five years a special tourney is held on the island, to determine the best warrior and the best archer of the realm. This tournament is known as The Oracular Games . Many different types of contests are held during that occasion, such as foot racing, javelin throwing and rock lifting, but the glory of none of them compares with that of The Oracular Warrior and of The Oracular Archer. The business of transporting people to the island and back to the mainland is indeed a very lucrative one. The southerners are responsible for most of the ferries around The Ring, being the best sailors of the realm. Piracy in this region is rare, but not completely unheard of. It seems to be a more calculated enterprise than the outspread plundering practiced in the south coast, however. In The Inner Sea, the amount of guard patrols and general traffic makes it highly risky to live off robbing ships. For that reason, such an activity is usually only undertaken in rare circumstances and with a lot of planning. The most famous robbery of all time in this region was the theft of The Golden Sun, a statuette made of solid gold under the commission of King Justin III of Ashland to celebrate his victory over the clawmen at the end of The Claw War. It was stolen while being transported to The Oracle, where it was to be dedicated to the gods. The authorship of the theft and the whereabouts of the piece remain a mystery to this day.